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A Kootenay business owner who fired a manager when they said they might pursue an employment standards complaint over 10 hours of unpaid wages has lost an appeal after being ordered to pay $28,500.

According to an Aug. 22 BC Employment Standards Tribunal decision, Blush Medi Spa director Dr. Jonas LaForge told the former manager it was "an act of war" when she suggested she might seek legal recourse over the unpaid hours.

"Debbie I’ve been clear. You threatening to talk to labour relations is an absolute deal breaker for me. So good luck you are terminated effective immediately," a text message from Dr. LaForge read.

Another text message read: "Then you threaten labour relations. Please drop your keys. Your clients will be reassigned and passwords and all access changed."

In the decision, Dr. LaForge argued the manager Deborah Walsh had "threatened" to "move on" and that the employment relationship was "already strained" before Dr. LaForge fired her.

However, the Tribunal saw it differently, saying the evidence showed she complained about doing 25 hours of unpaid work and had said this had to stop or she would be moving on.

"The text message evidence does not show Ms. Walsh resigned from her employment prior to having it terminated by Dr. LaForge," the Tribunal said.

The decision said Walsh was hired as a manager, business developer and medical aesthetician by Urban Roots Salon Spa, who do business as Blush Medi Spa in Cranbrook.

In her original complaint to BC Employment Standards she argued she was owed 10 hours in unpaid wages from August 2023.

In January, the Tribunal ordered Dr. LaForge to pay $300 in wages, $3,804 for length of service, $164 annual vacation pay and $24,289 in compensation.

However, Dr. LaForge appealed the decision arguing new evidence had come to light.

Dr. LaForge argued there was a draft employment contract in place which the Tribunal didn't look at first time round.

However, the contract was drafted by artificial intelligence and never signed.

Dr. LaForge also argued that after Walsh got fired she set up her own beauty services business, Deborah Walsh Skin Artistry. He argued this breached a non-complete clause in their employment contract.

However, the Tribunal ruled it didn't address the enforcement of non-compete or non-solicitation clauses and it wasn't relevant to the appeal.

The business also argued Walsh hadn't communicated respectfully with Dr. LaForge, but the Tribunal reviewed the text messages and ruled that Walsh had tried to "smooth things over" and not been disrespectful.

It's not the first time Dr. LaForge has been ordered to pay large amounts of cash.

In 2019, Dr. LaForge was ordered to pay $25,000 for practicing without a licence by the College of Naturopathic Physicians of B.C. The breach came when he was barred from practicing as a naturopath for 12 months.

A few years before in 2015, he was fined $25,000 by the regulator for having Skype medical consultations for marijuana dispensaries and administering Botox when he wasn't licensed to do so.

The Employment Standards Tribunal ordered LaForge to pay Walsh $28,557 plus interest dating back to January.

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